Andy Coulson arrested over News of the World 'phone hacking'

Ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been arrested by police following allegations of phone hacking against the newspaper, within hours of David Cameron defending his former communications director.

Sky News reports that police had arranged with Coulson and his solicitor for him to attend the police station by appointment and be formally arrested.

A second former senior journalist at the News of the World will also be arrested in the next few days, according to The Guardian.

Prime Minister Cameron this morning defended the decision to hire Coulson as Downing Street's communications director, despite him being at the center of phone hacking allegations at the News of the World.

At a press conference, Cameron announced two inquiries into the scandal, which yesterday led News International to shut down the 168-year-old Sunday tabloid. One inquiry will be led by a judge, while a second inquiry will look at the ethics and culture of the press. Regulator the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) would also be scrapped, said Cameron.

Asked about his relationship now with Coulson, Cameron said: "I became friends with him and I think he did his job for me in a very effective way. He became a friend and he is a friend."

Yesterday, News International announced that the News of the World would shut down after this Sunday's issue, following reports that police have identified as many as 4,000 possible victims of hacking by the newspaper.

Discussing reports that Brooks had offered her resignation last night, Cameron added: "In this situation I would have taken it."

The Guardian's editor Alan Rusbridger claims that he warned Cameron not to employ Coulson, but the PM said that Coulson always insisted he was unaware of the phone hacking which had been going on during his tenure at the paper.

The prime minister added: "I decided to give him a second chance but the second chance didn't work. The decision to hire him was mine and mine alone."

Asked about the takeover of Sky by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Cameron said that culture secretary Jeremy Hunt was following "the proper legal processes and procedures".

He said: "His role is to take the advice of independent regulators and, as his department have made clear this morning - given the events of recent days - this will take some time."

Cameron also said this was a "genuine opportunity" and a "cathartic moment" to find a new way to regulate the press and alleviate the "black cloud" hanging over Fleet Street.